Tourism has returned to pre-pandemic levels in Luxembourg, tourism minister Lex Delles told the press on Thursday, supplying data on the sector for the first half of 2023.
Although campsites have been somewhat less popular than expected, perhaps due to poor weather, youth hostels accounted for 20% of all overnight stays in Luxembourg so far - compared to 7% in hotels and 1% at campgrounds. In total, the number of overnight stays increased by 6% in the first half of this year, representing 417,000 guests. But it’s not just visitors from abroad making the most of the country’s accommodation - around 180,000 of these were Luxembourg residents.
Sightseeing and amusement parks continue to attract high numbers of guests following the pandemic, with Vianden Castle breaking its own personal records. With nearly 94,000 visitors in the first six months of 2023 alone, Luxembourg’s most popular tourist attraction continues to attract the crowds. However, the most-visited attraction in 2023 so far has been the fairytale amusement park “Parc Merveilleux” in Bettembourg.
In 2023, data showed that more tourists visited Luxembourg from Spain, the USA and England, thanks to the targeted promotion of memorials or castles.
Delles said this year’s focus was “active tourism”, with a view to promoting Luxembourg’s most attractive traits in order to help tourists find what they are looking for.
The “Visit Luxembourg” app, launched in 2021, was designed to help visitors plan their perfect trip, whether they want to take in historical sights, discover the country by bike, or visit cultural attractions such as museums.
The app also allows users to sort attractions by popularity and helps to avoid extremely busy areas if needed, as well as highlighting lesser-known spots in order to better distribute visitors around the country. It aims to provide a better experience for tourists both prior to, and during, their visit.
Both the app and the Visit Luxembourg website enables users to search through topics according to their interests, as well as discovering or promoting specific events.
